AZ81A Magnesium vs. 5040 Aluminum
AZ81A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while 5040 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is AZ81A magnesium and the bottom bar is 5040 aluminum.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 55 | |
| 66 to 74 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 46 | |
| 70 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 3.0 to 8.8 | |
| 5.7 to 6.8 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 78 to 80 | |
| 100 to 130 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.33 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 18 | |
| 26 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 91 to 130 | |
| 140 to 150 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 160 to 240 | |
| 240 to 260 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 84 | |
| 190 to 230 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 350 | |
| 400 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 130 | |
| 190 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 600 | |
| 650 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 500 | |
| 600 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 990 | |
| 900 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 84 | |
| 160 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 27 | |
| 23 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 12 | |
| 41 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 65 | |
| 130 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 12 | |
| 9.5 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.7 | |
| 2.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 23 | |
| 8.3 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 160 | |
| 150 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 990 | |
| 1180 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 4.0 to 17 | |
| 14 to 15 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 77 to 78 | |
| 260 to 380 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 15 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 70 | |
| 50 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 26 to 39 | |
| 24 to 26 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 38 to 50 | |
| 31 to 32 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 50 | |
| 64 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 9.1 to 14 | |
| 10 to 11 |
Alloy Composition
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| Aluminum (Al), % | 7.0 to 8.1 | |
| 95.2 to 98 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 0.1 to 0.3 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.7 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 89.8 to 92.5 | |
| 1.0 to 1.5 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.13 to 0.35 | |
| 0.9 to 1.4 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 to 0.010 | |
| 0 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0.4 to 1.0 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 to 0.15 |